Indeed. In my opinion being a governor of a state is nothing like being the president of a country. Being a senator you are at least part of the government that runs the extremely complex issues of the federal government. As a governor you're not even exposed to these issues in any way. Obama's experience in foreign affairs and national politics is obviously greater than any of the governors you mention. There is a reason that countless governors become senators but few senators return to governorships. A Senator is a much more important (and difficult) job in this country, whether or not you agree it should be.
What you're saying is similar to taking a CEO that worked at Anchor Steam Brewing company and making him the CEO of Budweiser. I think I'd rather have one of the VPs of Budweiser take the head job.
I really am not very interested in his ability to be an administrator, as his only job in this regard is to appoint the right people for the administrative roles in the executive branch. People that he trusts and that will give him good advice. People like Chuck Hagel, Warren Buffett, Alan Greenspan, Richard Posner, Robert Lucas and Joe Biden.
Again, the McCain of 2000 would have been a legitimate contender for my vote. The McCain of 2000, of course, would never dream of voting for the McCain of 2008. Total sellout panderer that has degraded the (already sorry) level of political discourse in this country because he knows this is his last shot. It's one thing to change your mind on an issue, but quite another to completely 180 on issues that you had been fighting for your whole 30-year career.
It's all about priorities to me. Obama's 2 top priorities, energy and economy, are my 2 top priorities and his plans on both make great sense to me and have even been lauded by countless conservative economists- guys like Ben Stein, Posner, Lucas and Alan Greenspan.
PS: Making the statement that you voted for Bush in 2004 and Dole in 1996 while trying to claim a lack of partisanship is the biggest head scratcher though.